Our mission is to empower children and adults with developmental disabilities to achieve their potential based on personal choices, abilities and interests...
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Regina Moore
Marketing Manager
phone: (914) 428-8330,
ext. 3117
fax: (914) 997-2985
or (914) 428-0322
rmoore@westchesterarc.org
Westchester Arc
Herbert Katzenberg Center
121 Westmoreland Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606
(914) 949-9300
info@westchesterarc.org
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Press Release
Westchester ARC, County Legislators Honor Country Children's Center for Children with Disabilities
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, February 9, 2005 — Westchester ARC presented its 2005 Partners in Inclusion Award to staff from The Country Children’s Center, Katonah, at the agency’s February 9 membership meeting. Westchester ARC Executive Director Ric Swierat praised Polly Peace, the school’s executive director, along with Niki Guida, program director and teacher, for creating “inclusion” classes in their school, where pre-schoolers with developmental disabilities learn alongside their typically developing peers. Swierat was joined by County Legislator Tom Abinanti (D-Greenburgh), representing the Westchester County Board of Legislators, who proclaimed February 9, 2005, Country Children’s Center Day in the county.
“You represent a model for the community,” declared Swierat. “We hope that what you have done will encourage others to do the same.”
“To see children grow and flourish in an environment that encourages their individuality is a wonderful thing,” replied Peace. “Every child deserves that. Inclusion has enriched all our programs at The Country Children’s Center, and all our lives.”
The Country Children’s Center has been collaborating with Westchester ARC’s Children’s School for Early Development since 1997. During that time, 47 kids with disabilities have “graduated” from the center and gone on to mainstream kindergartens. The center is one of 13 pre-schools throughout the county that have partnered with Westchester ARC in this manner.
Inclusion classes enable students with disabilities to model the speech and behavior patterns of their typically developing classmates, who in turn, learn important life lessons about compassion, tolerance and individual differences. All students benefit from the Children’s School’s expert staff of New York State-certified teachers, social workers, psychologists, and speech, occupational, and physical therapists.
“Polly Peace was a driving force in bringing inclusion classes to the Country Children’s Center,” explains Fran Porcaro, director of the Westchester ARC pre-school program. “She combines the professional and personal in her commitment to these kids. Her staff receives extensive, ongoing training and their work is respected throughout the community. She’s always there to provide support to the students and their families, whether she’s raising money for computers or making donuts at the pre-school’s Fall Harvest Celebration.”
“Niki Guida is a wonderfully creative teacher,” adds Phyllis Rizzi, program coordinator for the Westchester ARC pre-school. “She uses props when she tells a story--a cereal box becomes a suitcase. She makes the world come alive for them.”
Westchester ARC is the largest organization in the county serving people of all ages who have intellectual or developmental disabilities. Established over 50 years ago, Westchester ARC is a family-focused agency offering opportunities to individuals with disabilities such as autistic spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, mental retardation, cerebral palsy and learning disabilities. The agency has long advocated social inclusion for people with disabilities because of its wide-ranging benefits to the entire community. Westchester ARC is funded through both public and private means.
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